PARIS — The European press hailed the victory of Socialist Francois Hollande in the French presidential election as a turning point for Europe late Sunday, but warned of the “mammoth” challenges ahead.

“Au revoir President Bling Bling!” headlined London’s conservative tabloid Daily Mail, while German papers wondered what the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy would mean to Germany’s ties with France.

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“Francois Hollande, whom the chancellor wanted to avoid at all costs, has become president in place of her favourite.

“How unpleasant for Merkel. Not so much because Hollande would threaten the rescue of the euro. But because his demand to complement the EU fiscal pact with growth elements strikes at the chancellor’s supremacy in Europe.”

Left-leaning Berlin paper Tagesspiegel also saw Hollande’s victory as a blow for Merkel.

It saw France as “symbolically leaving northern Europe in favour of southern Europe — in terms of drifting away from budgetary discipline” and concluded: “This means that Germany has fewer, too few, allies.”

“If the international financial markets begin to lose faith in France, the second-biggest industrial nation in the European Union, it will weaken the euro.

“This country alone (Germany) will not be able to stabilize it.”

‘This means that Germany has fewer, too few, allies’

However, the regional daily Stuttgarter Zeitung doubted that France alone would be strong enough to counter Merkel’s insistence that austerity remains the key tonic for the eurozone crisis.

“As important as France is to drive the European Union forward, the country is not strong enough to impose its will on other heavyweights in the community,” the paper said.

Britain’s Independent said Hollande’s victory, and the end of Sarkozy, heralded “a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France operates around the world.”

London’s Financial Times said: “Sarkozy becomes latest victim of anti-incumbent backlash,” with all eyes now on reaction on the world markets.

In Austria, the Kurier newspaper ran the headline “Hollande topples Sarkozy from the throne,” but commented in another title “Paris: lots of civic duty, but little fervour” for the new president who faces big challenges.

The largest selling nationwide Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung added: “Hollande seals the end of Sarkozy” while Vienna’s Die Presse said that “A mammoth task awaits the new guy.”